HYDERABAD: The appointment of chairpersons of the Public Accounts Committee, Public Undertakings Committee and Estimates Committee has a valid rationale behind it. The development is being perceived as part of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s strategy to retain total control over the party as well as to ensure inclusion of his people into the Cabinet, whenever it happens.
With the appointment of BRS turncoat MLA Arekapudi Gandhi as the chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the assertion that he is a BRS MLA, since tradition dictates that the post should go to a member from the Opposition party, it has become clear that the legislators who had migrated from the BRS might not be accommodated in the Cabinet.
The appointment of N Padmavathi Reddy, wife of Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, as Estimates Committee chairperson is also intended to settle the chances of Munugode MLA K Rajagopal Reddy getting into his Cabinet as Padmavathi is also from Nalgonda district. Rajagopal Reddy’s brother Venkat Reddy from Nalgonda district is already in the Cabinet.
The appointment of Shadnagar MLA Veerlapally Shankar as Public Undertakings Committee chairman has triggered speculation that a BC from the Mudiraj community might be inducted into the Cabinet.
Coveted posts
Meanwhile, the race to corner the TPCC vice-president posts has become hot after MLC B Mahesh Kumar Goud was made its president. Revanth Reddy is also strategically handling the appointments to party working president posts so that there would not be much competition when the time comes for expansion of the Cabinet.
According to party sources, Bhongir MP Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy is trying to secure a working president’s post. As he is a confidant of Revanth, chances of him obtaining the post are high. Former Kalwakurthy MLA Ch Vamshi Chand Reddy is also trying his luck in landing a working president’s post. He has served as president of NSUI and Youth Congress in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. Sources said ministers including Uttam Kumar Reddy, Bhatti Vikramarka and others are also pushing his name for the post.
Contenders aplenty
Khairatabad DCC president C Rohin Reddy is also showing interest in the post of working president. He is pulling strings through the party’s Telangana in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi. He is also a trusted lieutenant of Revanth.
Leaders like Mahabubabad MP P Balram Naik, former ZP chairperson Saritha Thirupathaiah and MLA Adluri Laxman Kumar have thrown their hats in the ring for the working presidents posts. Balram Naik, who was a contender for the PCC president’s post, has climbed down a step and is seeking at least the vice-president’s post.
Saritha is not interested in becoming the head of the Women’s Congress though she has been sounded out in this regard. She set her eyes on the working president’s post. Revanth has reportedly recommended her name for the post under BC and women’s quotas. Her rival and incumbent Women’s Congress president Sunita Mudiraj is also lobbying for the post.
Meanwhile, Congress seniors, including a few ministers, want to increase their influence in the party by getting the posts of working presidents and vice presidents for their supporters and emerge as counterweights to Revanth and reduce his increasing hold.